Cranberry variety named ‘HyRed’

ABSTRACT

A new and distinct variety of cranberry is described. The variety has been named ‘HyRed’ and is derived from a cross of the ‘Stevens’ variety and Ben Lear No. 8. The ‘HyRed’ variety exhibits significantly higher red pigment, short seasonal maturity, excellent vigor, and a yield comparable to other commercial varieties.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

This invention was made in part with United States Government supportawarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative StateResearch, Education and Extension Service, under grant number WIS04166.

Latin name of the genus and species of the plant claimed: Vacciniummacrocarpon Ait.

Variety denomination: HyRed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinctive cranberry clonalvariety having significantly higher red pigment, short seasonalmaturity, improved vigor and a yield at least comparable to othercommercial varieties.

The American cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait., is a small fruitgrown in the temperate regions of the world. The United States ispresently the major producer of cranberries, with the combined Wisconsinand Massachusetts harvests accounting for about 80% of the total U.S.annual production.

Although the cranberry is well known for its tart flavor, the principalvalue component is its red pigment (anthocyanin) content, measured astotal anthocyanin (TAcy) in mg per 100 grams fresh fruit. The importanceof the pigment content is recognized by most processors as they areknown to give a color incentive payment for the delivery of cranberrieshaving a TAcy greater than 30. The incentive payment can be economicallyimportant, especially during years of low fruit prices.

Unfortunately, cranberry growers in regions with colder fall weather,such as the north-central portion of the United States, often harvesttheir cultivars before full fruit color development to avoid freezinginjury and icing problems in the low-lying cranberry beds. As a result,regions with a longer growing season, such as Washington and Oregon,produce cranberries with average TAcy levels of 50-60 mg of redpigment/100 gms, whereas cranberries grown in Wisconsin average a TAcylevel at 33 mg/100 gms.

Cranberry selections grown today have not yet experienced the extensivebreeding as seen in other fruit-bearing species. Many selections werederived directly from native areas or from managed beds of mixed origin.For example, ‘Ben Lear’ (unpatented) is a cranberry selection takendirectly from the wild in Wisconsin in the early 1900s, and is widelygrown in short-seasonal areas due to its early fruit development andhigh color content. The average TAcy content for ‘Ben Lear’ in Wisconsinis a TAcy of 42.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture undertook, in cooperation with stateexperimental stations, one generation of breeding in an attempt toimprove U.S. cranberry cultivars. The breeding resulted in theintroduction of the ‘Stevens’ (unpatented) variety in the 1950s. The‘Stevens’ variety is today the most widely grown cultivar and ischaracterized by dependably high yields, but only moderate colordevelopment, especially in short-seasonal regions such as Wisconsin(Wisconsin average TAcy of 34). Another cultivar released from thisprogram, ‘Pilgrim’ (unpatented), is less widely grown than ‘Stevens’ ischaracterized by relatively large, but more lightly colored fruit than‘Stevens’.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cranberry variety.The variety is designated ‘HyRed’ and is derived from a cross of the‘Stevens’ variety and a selection designated as ‘Ben Lear #8’,(unpatented) which was derived from an open-pollinated population ofseedlings of ‘Ben Lear’. ‘HyRed’ exhibits significantly higher redpigment (up to 3 fold higher), short seasonal maturity, excellent vigor,and a yield at least comparable to other commercial varieties.

In 1990, a limited breeding program was launched with the goal ofdeveloping for Wisconsin and other regions with short growing seasons,cranberry hybrids that produce dependably high yields of early-maturing,high color fruit. It was hoped that such hybrids would dependablycapture available color incentives and provide for an early harvest soas to allow an extended harvest season, thus optimizing harvest andhandling operations and reducing the risk of unpredictable late-seasonweather events.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a sample of ‘HyRed’ fruit as compared to ‘Stevens’ fruitharvested from the same cranberry bed in Wisconsin: (Top) harvested onSep. 19, 1996; and (Bottom) harvested on Oct. 3, 1996.

FIG. 2 shows a sample of ‘HyRed’ fruit as compared to ‘Ben Lear’ fruitharvested in mid-September from the same cranberry bed in Wisconsin.

FIG. 3 shows fruiting cranberry vines of ‘HyRed’ and ‘Pilgrim’ taken inmid-September from adjacent plots in northern Wisconsin.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

The distinctive characteristics of the new ‘HyRed’ variety aresummarized in table 1 and described in detail below. The colordesignations made herein are made with reference to The HorticultureColor Chart, R. F. Wilson (1941).

As illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, fruit from the ‘HyRed’ variety developsexcellent coloration even when covered deeply within the vine mat. The‘HyRed’ fruit exhibits a color comparable to Carmine No. 21 when fullyripened and has a shape that is somewhat blocky. Although the TAcycontent of the ‘HyRed’ fruit may sometimes reach as high as three timesgreater than Wisconsin grown ‘Stevens’ and ‘Ben Lear’ cultivars, itsacidity and sugar content is similar to ‘Stevens’ and ‘Ben Lear’. The‘HyRed’ variety flowers, colors, and also ripens earlier than either‘Stevens’ or ‘Ben Lear’, but exhibits a vigor similar to that of thevigorous ‘Stevens’ selection. ‘HyRed’ also retains the ease of clonalpropagation through cuttings, a common technique for most cranberryselections.

The combination of the above ‘HyRed’ characteristics easilydifferentiates ‘HyRed’, from both its parents, ‘Stevens’, and the mostwidely grown cultivar with which it may be confused, ‘Ben Lear’. Theabove characteristics also provide the ‘HyRed’ variety with benefits notrecognized in other commercially grown varieties. For example, theability of ‘HyRed’ fruit to develop excellent coloration when covereddeeply within the vine mat results in fewer poorly colored berries andprovides a more uniform harvest. The early flowering, coloring, andripening of the ‘HyRed’ fruit also allows for a harvest earlier than‘Stevens’ or ‘Ben Lear’, if desired, thus optimizing harvest andhandling operations and reducing the risk of unpredictable late-seasonweather events. The similarity of the acidity and sugar content between‘HyRed’, ‘Stevens’ and ‘Ben Lear’ also allows ‘HyRed’ to be used incommon cranberry products typically dominated by ‘Stevens’ and ‘BenLear’.

TABLE 1 Comparison Chart Character HyRed Stevens Ben Lear Typical FruitShape Elliptical blocky Elliptical Elliptical with squared shouldersMid-September >40 <15 <20 TAcy in Wisconsin (mg/100 gms) Mid-September2.1-2.6 2.2-2.6 2.2-2.6 Acidity (Titer) Mid-September 7.3-7.7 7.3-7.77.3-7.7 Percent Solid (°BRIX) General Vigor High High Medium GeneralYield High High Medium Flowering Time 2 weeks earlier — 1 week earlier(compared to Stevens) Ripening Period 2+ weeks earlier — 1+ weeksearlier (compared to Stevens) Harvesting Period 2+ weeks earlier — 1+weeks earlier (compared to Stevens) Cloning by cuttings Easy Easy Easy

‘HyRed’ was selected as a single plant from over 700 cloned individualseedlings planted in a test plot in a grower's field in centralWisconsin. The seedlings were derived from a controlled pollination of‘Stevens’ and ‘Ben Lear #8’. ‘Ben Lear #8’ is derived from anopen-pollinated population of the ‘Ben Lear’ variety, and originatesfrom a selection by Dr. Don Boone, UW-Madison, from the type collectionat DuBay Cranberries, Portage County, Wis. The controlled pollinationswere performed in a greenhouse using potted plants, with the resultingseeds germinated in vitro and the resultant plants micropropagated.

‘HyRed’ was originally selected in 1993 for its early color and highfruit bud set. The selection was then brought back intomicropropagation, asexually reproduced, and replanted in test plots ofvarious sizes (20 to 200 m²) from 1994 through 1997. The plantings weredone in two distinct growing regions, central Wisconsin and northernWisconsin. The central Wisconsin region is typified by a 170 day seasonwith nearly 3000 growing degree days (base of 45° F.). The northernregion is typified by a 110 day season with 2500 growing degree days.The test plots also included plantings of ‘Stevens’ or ‘Pilgrim’cultivars to serve as standards for comparison. Because of the uniqueand high cost production techniques required to grow cranberries, areasfor test plots were necessarily limited to open space available incommercial beds. Replicated and comparative plots were utilized whenfeasible.

The ‘HyRed’ fruit from the 4 to 7 year old plots were sampledperiodically, and color analyses performed using procedures based on themethod of Fuleki and Francis, “Quantitative methods for anthocyanins:Extraction and determination of total anthocyanin in cranberries”, J.Food Sci., 33:72-77 (1968). The samples were taken primarily inmid-September, usually about 2 weeks before the beginning of thecommercial harvest. In every year, ‘HyRed’ presented TAcy readings atleast twice that of comparable plots of ‘Stevens’ (Table 2). ‘HyRed’also exhibited prominent early coloration, even in late August, and agreater rate of increase in pigment content than ‘Stevens’ through theSeptember ripening period (Table 3).

TABLE 2 Comparison between fruit color of ‘Stevens’ and ‘HyRed’ TAcyContent Harvest Year TAcy Content Harvest Year1997 2000 Central CentralNorthern Cultivar Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Stevens 22.2 17.1 24.6HyRed 58.1 51.2 53.0

TABLE 3 Fruit color development of ‘Stevens’ and ‘HyRed’ over the 1997growing season TAcy Content Cultivar 28-Aug 3-Sep 10-Sep 17-Sep 24-Sep1-Oct Stevens 5.8 9.2 12.2 22.2 31.3 44.1 HyRed 27.4 34.2 39.3 58.1 86.3115.2

Anthocyanins of cranberry are generally located almost entirely in theepidermal layers of the fruit. One factor which is believed tocontribute to high extractable fruit color in cranberry is small fruitsize, due in part to the influence of surface area to weight ratio onthe total pigment content for each fruit. A negative correlation betweenyield and some of the flavonoid compounds, including anthocyanins, hasalso been suggested. However, differences in fruit size and yieldbetween ‘HyRed’ and other cultivars have been minor when compared to thedifferences in extractable color. For example, as shown in Table 4,early harvests of fruit from ‘HyRed’ and the commercial cultivar‘Pilgrim’ which is known for its large fruit, in adjacent plots innorthern Wisconsin have shown a markedly greater pigment content in‘HyRed’, fruit for both years. Differences in fruit yield and fruit sizewere negligible or much less pronounced. In all plantings, the fruitsize of ‘HyRed’ has averaged above 1.5 g, which is similar to theaverage fruit size of ‘Ben Lear’ and ‘Stevens’ grown in comparablelocations in Wisconsin (data not shown). Thus, ‘HyRed’ appears to beable to develop high levels of extractable pigmentation simultaneouslywith good fruit size and yield.

TABLE 4 Pigment content, fruit size and total fruit yield comparisonHarvest Year 2000 Harvest Year 2001 Average Average Average TotalAverage Total Individual Sample Individual Sample TAcy Berry Berry TAcyBerry Berry Cultivar Content Weight Weight Content Weight Weight Pilgrim17.0 1.09 g 62.8 g 13.7 1.64 g 60.9 g HyRed 53.0 1.77 g 61.8 g 39.4 1.60g 54.6 g

In 2000, analyses of two additional fruit quality traits, titratableacidity and percent total soluble solids (° BRIX), was conducted atOcean Spray Cranberries, Inc. using standard procedures adapted fromBallington et al., “Fruit quality characterization of 11 Vacciniumspecies,” J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci., 109:684-689 (1984). Fruit washarvested durinig late September 2000 from adjacent plots at twoproduction locations Wisconsin. Three pooled samples were taken fromharvests in randomly tossed rings within the plot at each location.ANOVA indicated no significant differences for a fruit trait (P=0/05)between selections at a location. As illustrated in Tables 5 and 6,‘HyRed’ fruit did not show any significant differences in these traitswhen compared to either the standard ‘Stevens’ cultivar or ‘Pilgrim’cultivar grown in the same location.

TABLE 5 Titratable acidity and percent total soluble solids comparison,Mid-September harvest samples, central Wisconsin. Titratable acidityCultivar (meq/g dry wt) °BRIX Stevens 2.40 8.64 HyRed 2.40 8.47

TABLE 6 Titratable acidity and percent total soluble solids comparison,Mid-September harvest samples, northern Wisconsin. Titratable acidityCultivar (meq/g dry wt) °BRIX Pilgrim 2.46 7.54 HyRed 2.41 7.94

We claim:
 1. The new and distinct variety of cranberry plant hereindescribed and illustrated, and identified by the characteristicsenumerated above.